


Blessed Be The Boys

by BugTongue



Series: Leopika Week 2018 [3]
Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Family Loss, Gambling, Kid Fic, Leopika Week 2018, M/M, Poverty, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-06
Updated: 2018-09-06
Packaged: 2019-07-07 15:01:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15910638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BugTongue/pseuds/BugTongue
Summary: Kurapika helps out some new friends, even if he isn't willing to think of them that way just yet.





	Blessed Be The Boys

**Author's Note:**

> Introducing characters without introducing characters is a lot harder than I thought it would be.

_News reel. Pieces of the human body strewn about. Charred structures. No solid identities. No solid evidence. No solid ground. Calling card. The feeling of the very air around him closing in as he shook, distracted from a conversation with the convenience store owner trying to ask where his mother was. Where his mother was. His mother was dead. He didn't know._

_He didn't know._

He didn't know his mother was dead until he was thirteen and the bodies had been discovered and the wreckage of the village was declared safe enough to pick through and salvage artifacts. Kurapika ran out of the store with the idea to run home, run all the way home and discover the truth, to hug his mother and tell her the wild story he heard about the Kurta village, he ran until his legs gave out on him and his lungs refused to take in the air he needed, and when he was done running he started to cry.

He was still thirteen when he wandered into the only bar in town that didn't ask for identification at the door and met a boy much taller than him who looked like he recognized something in Kurapika. The idea made him queasy, because he could still feel eyes on his traditional clothes when he was out in the world. Instead of bothering him, the other kid went back to wiping down tables, then sweeping up the room. It was calm, mostly empty in the bar and Kurapika took a seat at one of the booths where it was dark enough to feel safe.

After making eye contact with him for the seventh time, the kid looked over his shoulder at the bartender and approached. “Hey, you want a water or something?” His expression was open, the way he held himself was awkward, and his clothes seemed too small for him, an inch above the ankle and riding up when his arms moved. Kurapika nodded, holding eye contact steadily as if daring him to pick a fight. No such thing happened, the kid simply walked behind the bar when the bartender turned away.

Kurapika watched closely as the kid peeked over his shoulder again, then hurried over with a glass of what most certainly was not water. “Right from the spring.” He grinned easily, watching as Kurapika took a sip and made a face, then took a deeper drink.

“... The spring must be tainted, I think you should check the water supply around here before bathing gets weird.” Kurapika didn't smile, he wasn't sure he could anymore, but after a gift he figured he should try warming up a little bit. The kid leaned a hip against the table and laughed.

“Hey, I just want to make sure because this place isn't so pretty at night time, do you have a place to sleep? Me and my friend can make room if you need it.”

“That's a nice offer, what's the catch?” Kurapika's curiosity grew as the other’s expression turned devious. He held up a hand and rubbed his thumb against his knuckle.

“You have a good poker face, how about you help me out tomorrow at one of the tables down by the sea wall? Call it earning your keep.” After a moment of consideration, Kurapika agreed.

\---

The house was clearly abandoned, or it had been at one point, but sure enough inside were candles and blankets and a generator that was attached to a neighbor's house by a series of extension cords. The stove took wood, and most of the food were nonperishables in value packs that Kurapika wasn't sure he should morally be accepting. The two boys seemed close, and he turned to look out the window as he ate some of the offered crackers. He didn't realize he could miss Pairo as much as the day he found out what happened, but here was the ache sitting like a hot coal between his lungs.

They slept on a mattress with blankets piled on top, mostly unnecessary due to the lasting heat from the day and the warm breeze drifting in through the open windows. The boys fiddled with a radio until the station cleared enough to let the guitar play through the speakers. The other kid, the one Kurapika only met in the house, smiled in the darkness. “The public station plays different stuff from the regular ones, and Leo said you're visiting, so this way you'll get some of the experience of a vacation.”

Kurapika stayed quiet, listening to the guitar shift from song to song until his lids began to close, sticky with humidity and the sweat from the day. “Thank you.”

Leo shifted beside him, ruffling his hair like someone who'd known Kurapika all his life. “Go to sleep, if you stay up too late you won't be any help at the sea wall.” Kurapika felt his face twist, so he pushed close enough to hide it between Leo's shoulder and the mattress until he did finally drift off.

\---

The tables by the sea wall were tables to a café overlooking a drop from a brick wall down to the rocks and waves below, the wall leading along the edge of the land to a set of docks holding fishing boats and smaller personal crafts. It wasn't the most lively seaport Kurapika had seen, but it was the busiest part of this town for sure. Leo pulled him aside, “you remember what I told you about this game, right?”

“Of course I do, I remember everything I learn.” If his voice was haughty it was from the lack of confidence being shown in his abilities. He straightened his tunic and walked away as Leo hovered nearby. Kurapika sat down at a table that was still setting up, and after being greeted by smirks of the overly confident, they allowed him to play a game.

He lost. But that, of course, was part of the game. He lost without betting too much, and in the second game he won back three times his original amount. And then again. He knew what cards were in the deck, he knew the rules, and he was utterly unreadable.

“This kid is cheating! He's got to be, check him for microphones.”

“Check for a camera or something, a mirror.”

Kurapika's grip on the cards tightened. “I'm not cheating, I assure you.”

“Are you even a kid? You look like one but you sure as hell don't talk like one.”

At that point, Kurapika felt a small pebbles hit his shoulder. He turned to see Leo waving him out, urging him to follow, and the uproar began as the group of gamblers recognized Leo as some form of undesirable. Kurapika grabbed the money, tucking it into his bag, and took off in another direction to find the long way around as the peaceful seawall café erupted with outrage. Boots and sandals pounded the ground behind him as he bolted across the square with its weakly burbling fountain, then he began zipping between buildings and through gaps in fences to get away from his would-be assailants, feeling a grin rip across his face when he realized he'd lost them.

When he arrived at the house once more, Leo pulled him inside and ducked down with him to listen outside for anyone who might still have followed, and then Kurapika was pulled into a spine-bending bear hug.

“That was awesome, oh my god!”

Leo's friend snickered. “Language, remember?”

“Yeah but look, look, show us what you got away with!” Leo was excited but still keeping his exclamations to a raised whisper, giddy as Kurapika dumped the cash and coins onto the floor. “As long as we hide this somewhere safe, we'll be able to eat just fine for a while.” He turned to Kurapika and pulled him into yet another dizzying hug.

Kurapika hadn’t had such close physical contact with anyone for months, since he'd left the village, and he missed it. As Leo began to pull away, Kurapika reciprocated the hug tightly, eyes squeezed shut.

“... Hey, you alright?” Leo hugged him again, rubbing his back in soothing motions. “I guess that was kinda scary, sorry I put you through that. They wont let me back at that café after I got into a fight with one of the guys. You did really good.”

“I wasn't scared.” But Kurapika couldn't admit why he wanted the hug to last longer. He was grateful when Leo tucked him under his chin without any further comment and let both their hearts calm down for a few moments. Then they cleaned up the money, and before hiding it away Leo shoved a handful of bills into Kurapika's hands.

“You'll get into trouble if you stay here much longer, but you can spend the night again tonight at least.”

The memory of sleeping on the mattress the night before filled Kurapika's mind, drawing him into the soft radio noise and the warmth of the summer air and the boy beside him. The very smell of other humans to keep him company pulled at his heart. But he shook his head, swallowing.

“Thank you, but I need to keep going anyway. This was nice.” He gripped the money tighter, then opened his bag and pushed it down under what remained of his belongings. “Good luck in your future endeavors.”

“Haha, only old people say that around here,” Leo smiled down at him, then sighed, putting a hand on Kurapika's shoulder and squeezing. “You too though.”

_Stay safe._


End file.
